Face to Face: Johanna Orozco's Life Changed in an Instant

20/20 Johanna Orozco

Johanna Orozco and Juan Ruiz Jr. in their second-grade class picture at Walton Elementary School in Cleveland, Ohio. It wasn't until they were in 10th grade, on Jan. 30, 2005, that they would go on their first date.

Courtesy Johanna Orozco

20/20 Johanna Orozco

Johanna Orozco and Juan Ruiz Jr. in their second-grade class picture at Walton Elementary School in Cleveland, Ohio. It wasn't until they were in 10th grade, on Jan. 30, 2005, that they would go on their first date.

Courtesy Johanna Orozco

Johanna Orozco

Orozco as a young child with her parents. When she was 13 years old, her mother died of kidney failure. Eleven days later, her father died in a car accident. Orozco and her brother, Kevin, were then raised by their grandparents.

Courtesy Johanna Orozco

Johanna Orozco

With her grandparents at her side, Orozco celebrates her Quinceanera, a Latin American ceremony which marks a girl's 15th birthday. Shortly thereafter, she began dating her first love Ruiz.

Courtesy Johanna Orozco

Johanna Orozco

Ruiz and Orozco together at her cousin's Quinceanera. "They were the ideal couple. Everyone wanted to be like Johanna and Juan," said Lincoln West High School drama club supervisor Catherine Zak. "They were outgoing, personable and very much in love."

Courtesy Miriam Juarez

Johanna Orozco

Ruiz and Orozco in happier times in a photo posted on her My Space page. Orozco told "20/20" that over time, Ruiz had grown jealous and abusive. When she removed his photos from her My Space page in a final attempt to end things, she says he came to her house in the middle of the night and raped her at knifepoint. Orozco alerted authorities and Ruiz was arrested.

Handout

Johanna Orozco

<b>Crime Scene</b>: Ruiz was released from the detention center and placed on house arrest when he visited Orozco March 5, 2007. While she was sitting in the driver's seat of her SUV in her grandparents' driveway, he shot his former girlfriend in the face. Glass and blood cover the floor of the vehicle. Orozco was rushed to the hospital. Ruiz was later sentenced to 27 years in prison.

Courtesy Cleveland Police Crime Scene and Records Unit

Johanna Orozco

<b>Charting Orozco's Recovery:</b> After the shotgun blast, Orozco was missing her entire chin, upper neck and most of her lower lip. Her surgeon Dr. Michael Fritz performed nearly a dozen serial revisions after Orozco's initial surgery and documented her progress in a series of digital pictures. Here, Orozco's left nostril is scarred shut, she is unable to close her mouth due to both upper lip scarring and insufficient length and paralysis of her lower lip. Most of her teeth are missing from the shotgun blast.

Courtesy Dr. Michael Fritz

Johanna Orozco

<b>Charting Orozco's Recovery:</b> In the next round of revisions, Fritz said the correction of Orozco's nasal scarring required a skin and cartilage graft from the ear to the nostril and advancement of cheek skin into the upper lip and nasal base region. He performed a surgery similar to a cleft lip operation to restore muscle function and add length to her upper lip.

Courtesy Dr. Michael Fritz

Johanna Orozco

<b>Charting Orozco's Recovery:</b> Orozco's lower lip was corrected to have more vertical length to improve her ability to speak and limit drooling, Fritz told "20/20." This was accomplished by lifting all of the surrounding chin and neck skin and advancing it centrally upward. During this process a significant amount of the mismatched skin from her leg was removed (leg skin is a different color from facial skin), preserving the underlying tissue from the leg flap to maintain as much bulk to the chin as possible. The tissue in her mouth over her reconstructed jaw had to be thinned in order to improve tongue function and allow for dental implants.

Courtesy Dr. Michael Fritz

Johanna Orozco

<b>Charting Orozco's Recovery:</b> Here, Orozco shows significant physical improvements. She has temporary teeth implants, seen here, and is currently in the process of getting permanent teeth, as well as laser therapy to help soften her scars.

Courtesy Dr. Michael Fritz

Johanna Orozco

Orozco reunites with her ER physician, Dr. Thomas Collins, for the first time since the day of the shooting. Collins told Orozco that she was "one of the most composed seriously injured patients [he's] ever seen."

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johanna Orozco

Orozco smiles with her good friend, Ashley Vallejo in May 2009. Since the accident, Orozco has begun lobbying for state legislation that would provide protection orders for threatened teens. She's also urging young women in violent relationships to come forward at the first sign of violence.